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Products that treat diabetes made up 20% of all NHS spend on prescription items in England in 2025/2026 and accounted for 6% of all items prescribed, NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) data show.
The figures, published on 20 August 2026, showed that in 2025/2026, 83 million items for diabetes were prescribed to 4.1 million identified patients in the community in England at a total cost of £2.3bn.
Of these prescribed items, anti-diabetic drugs made up 77%, with 64 million prescription items, the data revealed. The data also highlighted that GLP-1 receptor agonists accounted for 33% of the total cost of diabetes medicines prescribed in the NHS in 2025/2026 — although they constituted only 6% of the total items prescribed for diabetes.
According to the data, in 2025/2026, about 14% of patients who received drugs used to treat diabetes were prescribed a GLP-1 receptor agonist, which amounts to 5.2 million GLP-1 items prescribed to an estimated 562,000 patients at a cost of £755m.
Semaglutide and tirzepatide — combined — accounted for 89% of all GLP-1 items prescribed, the data showed.
The data also underscored that in 2025/2026, about 43% of patients who received drugs used to treat diabetes were prescribed a sodium–glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. Of these, dapagliflozin has seen the largest growth, with 11.5 million items prescribed to an estimated 1.3 million patients at a cost of £260m.
However, while the number of dapagliflozin items prescribed in 2025/2026 has increased by 2.8 million compared with 2024/2025, the total cost was reduced by £72m, the data revealed. The NHS BSA also said that a branded dapagliflozin (Forxiga; AstraZeneca) came off patent in 2025.
There has been a 60% growth in overall diabetes prescribing since 2016/2017, when 52 million items were prescribed to 2.8 million identified patients in that year, the data highlighted.
The data also showed that in 2025/2026, one-quarter (25%) of patients prescribed items for diabetes were from the most deprived areas in England, with the NHS BSA noting that “the general trend shows more patients were prescribed drugs used in diabetes as deprivation increased”.
The NHS BSA also reported that just over half (55%) of identified patients were male, while men aged 65–69 years were the most treated group and women made up nearly half (45%) of those treated.
Commenting on the data, Philip Newland-Jones, consultant pharmacist in diabetes and endocrinology at the University of Southampton, said: “It is not surprising that diabetes medicines now account for a growing proportion of NHS prescribing costs. We are seeing both an increase in the number of people living with diabetes and the wider use of newer therapies that provide benefits beyond glucose lowering, including reductions in cardiovascular and renal complications.
“While medicines such as SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists represent a significant investment, they are still largely under prescribed. They should be viewed in the context of the substantial long-term costs associated with diabetes-related complications. Effective treatment has the potential to reduce hospital admissions, cardiovascular events and progression of kidney disease.
“As diabetes treatments become increasingly complex, the role of specialist pharmacists is more important than ever. Pharmacists play a key role in optimising treatment, supporting safe prescribing, improving adherence, identifying adverse effects and helping patients gain the maximum benefit from these medicines.”
In June 2026, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended teplizumab (Tzield; Sanofi), which is the first drug proven to delay the onset of symptomatic type 1 diabetes mellitus for use on the NHS in England and Wales.
